Circular knitting machine



Aug. 4, 1931. T. H. JONES 1,817,565

CIiiCULAR KNITTING uAcimm F iled .June '17, 1929 Patented Aug. 4, 1931 UNI-TED S T-Es.

THOMAS; HENRY JONES; or-woonrnonnnnmrinn CIRCULAR KNITTING MACHINE Application filed June 17, 1929, Serial No. 371,561, and in Great Britain July 21, 1928;

This invention comprises improvements in or relating to circular knitting machines and in the production of fabric thereon and has for its object toprovide means by which a tubular fabric having the characteristics of ashogged or racked fabric can be produced by a small number of threads relatively to the number of needles or number of stitches in a course, even for example, by a single thread. 1

According to the present invention a circular knitting machine-isprovided embodying aplurality of sets or rows of needles, stitch-forming cams associated with said needles, means for feeding yarn to said needles,means for effecting relative motion between the needles and the stitch cams, all. of the needles operating to draw loops in the same direction, thenumber ofneedles in one set being different from that in another set, and means for varying the disposition of one set relatively to another during operation.

Another feature consists in providing a circular knitting machine embodyin-g concentric needle carriers, associated camsand yarn feedingmeans, means whereby all the needl'es functionto draw loopsin the same di rection, said carriers containing a: dissimilar number of needles and means for rotating said carriers progressively relatively to each other. f

A further feature resides in a machine having one or-' more of the above-named features-and characterized in that at each revolution of the machine there is always a predetermined number of definite positions or nodes at which a needle or needles in each carrier are suitably disposed relatively to each other for cam operation, yarn feed and mutually meshed stitch formation.

In one method of carryingout thi'sinvention a circular knitting machine is employed having two needle carrying members, hereinaf-ter called dial and cylinder, concentric with eachother, cams being associated with said carriers for coacting with the needles to draw and form loops of thread supplied from'one or more suitable yarn feeds, all loops being drawn in the same direction to produce an unribbed or plain fabric.

If, as is the customary practice, an equal number of needles is provided in both car'- riers, it is-of courseessential that the carriers be rotated at equal speeds or that the relative positions of the two sets of needles are never varied, as should such carriers be revolved at different speeds the needles will be moved into unsuitable relationship for mutual action and will foul each: other.

However, if the number of needles inthe one carrier beonein excess-of the needles in the other carrier, and the needles: in the two carriers are so positioned that one needle in each carrier occupies the same radial position, the needles on either sideof this point of coincidence will occupypositions of cumulative divergence untilat adiame tri'callyopposit'e position to the said point of coincidence a needle of the dial will: occupy a radial position exactly midway between two needles 7 of the cylinder and be in the best position for operation by the cams to form mutually meshingloops. I

If now the carriercontaining the larger number'of needles be revolved at a suitably reduced speed relatively to the speed of rotation, of the carrier containin the smaller numberofneedles, there will a ways he at. a given position a point of coincidence between .a needle of eachset and consequently there will always be a point at which a needle of one set is located midway between the two needles of the other set, that is tosay in a position for cam operation yarn feed and mu-, t'ual', stitch formation. In other words, the relative positions of any pair of needles consistingof one needle of each carrier will always be'thesame at a fixed point at any given time, successive needles gradually assuming the position of such pair as-they approach the saidfixed point and gradually diverging as they recede from the fixed point.

For example, it may be assumed that the cylinder contains fifty needles and the dial fifty-one, in which case the cylinder would be revolved fifty-one times while the dial revolved 'fif ty times.

By doubling the number of-needles contained in each carrier, that is to say, by providing two more needles in the one carrier than in the other, it will be appreciated that there will be two points of coincidence and two points or nodes at which knitting can take place, while if the number of needles in each carrier is quadrupled there will be four points or nodes, and it is to be understood that ateach of the knitting points or nodes a yarn feeder and needle operating cams must be provided unless it is desired to rack or shog more than one needle space.

By providing a dissimilar number of needles in the two carriers and effecting relative displacement of the carriers as above described, the needle wales produced in the fabric by the one set of needles are caused to extend at an angle to the needle wales formed by the other set of needles, that is to say, the one set of needle wales will be continuously shogged or advanced laterally in one direction relatively to the needle wales formed by the other set, while additionally the successive stitches or loops of each needle Wale appertaining to the one set of needles will mesh with stitches appertaining to successive needle Wales formed by the other set of needles. For example, a fabric may be produced wherein the needle wales of one set are vertical while those of the other set extend in the form of a spiral having a pitch of one stitch advance per course, the spiral wales thus being disposed practically at right angles to the vertical Wales.

For the purpose of more fully describing the nature of this invention, reference will 1 now be made to the accompanying drawings,

wherein Figure 1 is a plan view of a circular knitting machine in accordance with this invention for producing shogged plain fabric.

Figure 2 is a vertical section on the line IIII of Figure 1.

Figure 3 is a vertical elevation of part of the machine looking in the direction of arrow X.

Referring to the drawings, the drive is transmitted to the needle cylinder 1 from the main drive shaft 2 through intermeshing bevels 3, 4 and gear wheel 5, the latter revolving with the bevel 4 and meshing with gear 6 extending round a flange 7 of the cylinder 1.

The needle dial 8, which carries needles 8a operating between and at right angles to the cylinder needles 1a, is rotatable relatively to a fixed cam ring 9, said cam ring being conveniently fixedto an annular carrier plate 10 carried by posts 11 from a non-rotatable frame portion to which the stationary cam 12 for the cylinder needles is secured.

In the arrangement illustrated, four stationary yarn feeders 13 are spaced around the machine, therefore in order to enable the shogged fabric to be produced, one needle carrier will contain four more needles than the other and will be rotated at a reduced speed in relation to the carrier containing the smaller number of needles for the purpose hereinbefore described. In Figures 2 and 3 one method is shown whereby the dial 8 which carries four more needles than the cylinder 1 is rotated at a lesser speed than the cylinder. In this construction the drive to the dial is transmitted from a gear ring 14: fixed to rotate with he gear 6 but of lesser diameter and having a smaller number of teeth. This gear ring 14 meshes with a gear wheel 15 carried by a spindle 16 rotatable on a stationary axis, a second gear 17 on said spindle meshing with circumferential teeth on the dial 8. The wheel 17 may project thorugh an opening in a peripheral flange of the dial carrier plate 10.

The machine with outer dial needles as above functions to produce shogged plain, i. e. unribbed,fabric as before-stated. Various methods may be employed for producing plain shogged fabric on a machine such as above described. F or example the thread may be fed simultaneously to both sets of needles, i. e. cylinder and dial needles, or alternatively thread may be fed separately to each set of needles so as to produce what is generally known as a two-thread fabric. Where thread is fed separately to each set of needles, the clearing of the dial needles and a considerable part of the withdrawing or retracting motion thereof may be accomplished before such needles are projected between the cylinder needles and in this Way only comparatively few needles of both sets are projected between each other at any given time.

In another method of operation the dial needles may be protruded between only the last two or three needles of the group of cylinder needles being operated at any time by the cylinder cam, thread is fed into the hooks of both needles, the cylinder needles draw their loops and cast off the old loops but the dial needles clear their loops and the last laid thread thereon after the cylinder needle operation is complete.

The fabric produced upon a machine such as herein described and claimed is illustrated, described and claimed in my application filed concurrently herewith, and bearing Serial No. 371,559.

I claim 1. A circular knitting machine comprising a plurality of sets of needls, stitch-forming cams associated with said needles, means for feeding yarn to said needles, means for effecting relative motion between the needles and the stitch cams, all of the needles operating to draw loops in the same direction, the number of needles in one set being different from that in another set and means for progressively varying the disposition of one set relatively to another during operation.

2. A circular knitting machine embodying concentric needle carriers, associated stitch forming cams, yarn feeding means, means for efi'ecting relative movement between the needles and stitch cams, means whereby all needles function to draw loops in the same direc- I tion, the needle carriers containing a dissimilar number of needles, and means for producing progressive relative rotation between the said carriers. 3. A circular knitting machine comprising 10 a plurality of sets of needles, stitch-forming cams associated with said needles, means for feeding yarn to said needles, means for effecting relative motion between the needles and the stitch cams, all of the needles operating to draw loops in the same direction, the number of needles in one set being different from that in another set, means for progressively varying the disposition of the needles of one set relatively to those of another and said means operating so that at each revolution of the machine there is always a predetermined number of definite positions or nodes at which a needle or needles in each carrier are suitably disposed relatively to each other for cam operation, yarn feed and mutually meshed stitch formation.

4. A circular knitting machine embodying a cylinder, needles operable therein, cam means coacting with said cylinder needles, a dial concentric with and eXteriorly of said needle cylinder, needles operable in said dial, cam means associated with and o erating upon the dial needles, the number 0 needles in the cylinder being different from that in the dial, means for feeding yarn to the needles, and means whereby progressive relative rotation is effected between the cylinder and dial so as to vary continuously the disposition of one set of needles relatively to the other.

THOMAS HENRY JONES. 

